What 👏A 👏Year 👏👏👏 I've made many strides and checked off a couple boxes off ye olde bucket list. The biggest news is that I've left my job at Flipboard and amped to pursue a career in food for all of 2018. You can read about all the things I want to accomplish on my Services page.
Before I march on, I wanted to take a look back at the big projects that brought me to this point.
Kickstarter Make 100: Last year, my friends at Kickstarter launched the #Make100, a creative prompt to jumpstart our brains. Make 100 of anything, they said! I decided to host a party called the #Eggcentennial where we'd pop 100 egg yolks on camera to make a big montage. Along the way, I wrote a few guides to running a successful Kickstarter project.
Smallhold mushroom challenge: It's not every day a friend asks you if you'd like a giant king oyster mushroom. Fireworks went off in my head as I tried to make as many small dishes as I could from the single fungi.
Check out the Smallhold shipping container farm and agtech that allows restaurants to grow their own 'shrooms.
Put A Egg On It 13 & 14: Our charming little zine is bi-annual and chock full of recipes, art, food illustrations and interesting conversations. It's been fun to recruit home cooks and chefs to contribute recipes.
We also partnered with Misen to create a basic knife skills video.
Stay tuned for our 10th anniversary issue slated for this spring. You're invited to our party on May 19, 2018 in Manhattan.
Darrenkamping: Every year or so, my friends and I like to camp out in Lancaster, PA. I try to push the limits of cooking outside and this year was no exception. When I heard that the crew had a vegetarian chili going on the fire, I prepped a bunch of tasso ham and dug a pit for a DIY smoker.
Showdown cookbook release & tour: Whoa, what a trip! I was amazing to bring my first cookbook to Barnes and Noble as well as independent book stores. You can see where I went on my Book page. Thank you to everyone who came to hear my story and for buying a signed copy.
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#LetHawaiiHappen: I was honored to visit Oahu with a few other writers to explore the local cuisine. Highlights included Tonkatsu Tamafuji, a tour with "Captain Hawaii" Gooch and a dinner at the home of Roy Yamaguchi.
Sam and Nico's Burrito Wedding: These two love burritos. I'm not kidding! All they wanted for their wedding was burritos so that is all we served :) Guests had a choice of chipotle chicken, vegetarian or building their own bowls. Thanks to my crew, John and Emily, for making that dream menu happen.
Upstate Mezzescape for SF and Jen: I was unable to coordinate catering a fried chicken wedding upstate for my Put a Egg on It friends, but I agreed to help source and arrange the appetizers for their 75 person wedding picnic. I covered a picnic table in butcher paper and styled an epic crudite spread fit for a magazine editor and a fellow chef :)
Photo by Kelly Sweda.
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Eat It, Maria! To aid the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Put a Egg On It volunteered in the kitchen with our friend Chef Maria Grubb. We raised over 10K for Serve PR, a new nonprofit formed to help restaurants recover from damage.
Local Roots Pickle Classes: I teamed up with Wen-Jay Ying of Local Roots to teach Etsy and The Wing how to pickle their fall season produce. You can pickle anything!
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Thanksgiving: I returned to Fort Kickass in Bed Stuy with a last minute ranch dressing flavored turkey. I made a rich tarragon and caramelized onion butter that I stuffed under the skin. It was glorious.
#MitchellAndAdam: What a way to conclude 2017! I was more than happy to cater the wedding of my dear friends Mitchell Kuga and Adam JK at The Strand Rare Books Room. We worked together to mash up their Hawaiian-Japanese and Jewish food cultures. Read about it in NY Times: Vows.